


in the dark of the night

by aliensroutthere



Series: Zutara Month 2017 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: BAMF!Katara, Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom, F/M, Rescue, diplomats, princess!katara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 23:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12899235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensroutthere/pseuds/aliensroutthere
Summary: What had started as a diplomatic mission had somehow turned into a deadly chase, the results of which determined whether the Water Princess would live or die.





	in the dark of the night

**Author's Note:**

> There's a bit of violence in this chapter, but nothing too major. Also, s/o to the lemon alliance, especially Mandy <3  
> Prompt: Lunar Eclipse

The sky was darker than the Water Princess had ever known it to be. There was no light in the forest as she ran, only black shapes that appeared inches before her as she moved. Branches whipped at her and vines tried to snare her feet, but she kept on.

 

_ How had this happened?  _

 

What had started as a simple, diplomatic meeting with the Great Earth Kingdom’s ambassadors had somehow turned into a night-time chase through an unfamiliar forest, and the Water Princess was at a severe disadvantage. 

 

Tensions between the Four Nations were higher than ever before. The Great Earth Kingdom was expanding its borders (and sense of nationalism) every day, invading Fire Nation and Water Kingdom lands. The Fire Nation and the Water Kingdom were fighting against the Great Earth Kingdom’s invasions, as well as fighting each other. The Air Lords had withdrawn from society altogether, creating suspicion and fear throughout the remaining three nations. 

 

The world was completely unbalanced. 

 

The Water Princess had gone to the Ba Sing Se to speak with ambassadors from the Great Earth Kingdom and the New Earth Order, to try and find a way to make an alliance, or even to just bring peace. 

 

Somewhere along the way, they had decided that they did not trust her motives. 

 

She had been chased out of the city from her chambers, all the way into the forests outside the city’s walls. 

 

Normally, the Princess could have taken all of her would-be assassins out on her own. However, she had forgotten one crucial detail about the day: the eclipse. 

 

The moon had disappeared from the sky, leaving the Princess without her bending. She was almost completely defenseless. 

 

With only her wits and slight sense of direction to guide her, the Princess continued her mad dash throughout the forest. She could hear the sounds of the New Earth Order’s assassins behind her. Somehow, no matter how many turns she took or how fast she ran, they were never far behind. 

 

_ How can they be tracking me so easily? _

 

The Princess was running out of hope. She could not outrun the assassins. When they finally caught up to her, she would not be able to fight all of them off with no bending. She would either be taken to Ba Sing Se and kept prisoner, or killed on the spot. 

 

Neither options sounded particularly appealing. 

 

The Princess made a sharp right turn without breaking her stride. She could hear the thudding footsteps of the New Earth Order’s agents as they slowly gained ground on her. 

 

She knew she was going down, but she wouldn’t be taken without a fight. 

 

With one last surge of speed, the Princess burst into a clearing. When she reached the far side of the clearing, where there was a wall of rock, she turned and pulled out the daggers she had strapped to the inside of her boots. She watched as the New Earth Order’s agents slowly entered the clearing, all their eyes trained on her. 

 

She was outnumbered, at least twelve to one. Twelve powerful earthbenders against a waterbender who currently couldn’t bend. 

 

She knew this would probably be her final fight, and she intended to make it a good one.

 

“Well, you’ve finally caught up,” she said. The agents stared silently back at her. 

 

She figured she could take at least four or five out before they overpowered her. With a feral grin, she bent her knees, ready to attack. 

 

The earthbenders advanced, and the fight began. 

 

Three of the agents began to pull huge boulders from the ground, and their comrades began to hurl the rocks towards the Princess.

 

The Princess dodged the flying boulders, feeling the smaller pebbles and dirt raining down on her from above. She darted past an agent, slicing through his armour and into his chest as she went. Not enough to kill, but definitely enough to maim. 

 

_ Nice.  _

 

A rock about the size of her head flew into her stomach, knocking her backwards. She winced in pain, and turned to her next target, making sure to keep her footing light on the ground. She stabbed at the nearest agent, breaking through his arm-plates and slicing down to the bone before darting away again. 

 

Slowly, the agents backed her into the side of the clearing, at the rock wall. No matter how many she injured, they still kept coming. Finally, with her back to the rock, she was completely surrounded. 

 

The Princess held her daggers up, ready to fight until her last breath. 

 

Suddenly, a figure cloaked in black lept in front of her. Both the Princess and the New Earth Order’s agents froze in shock, all wondering if this stranger was an enemy. 

 

The agents dropped into attack positions, and the Princess tried to find an escape route. 

 

Her way was blocked by the earthbenders. She was stuck here, now at the mercy of either the agents or this new stranger.

 

The stranger cocked their head to the right, dropped into a crouch, and shot bright flames at the earthbenders. 

 

The Princess stared in shock.  _ A firebender!  _

 

The firebender began to force the earth agents back, creating a ring of fire that separated the agents from themself and the princess. Their attacks were useless against the firebender. They shot balls of fire at individual agents, forcing them to fall further and further back. Finally, the earthbenders were pushed back to the edges of the clearing. 

 

The stranger, still ready to attack, turned their head slightly towards the Princess. “I’m going to count to three,” they said, their voice low and rich. The Princess guessed that the stranger was a man. “On three, I’m going to grab you and we’re going to get to safety. Got it?”

 

Figuring the stranger was her only hope at escape, the Princess agreed. 

 

“One,” the stranger said, expanding his ring of fire towards the earthbenders. “Two…”

 

“Three!” He spun around and grabbed the Princess around her waist. The earthbenders pushed more boulders towards them, but the stranger jumped into the air, and pushed himself further above the ground by bending fire towards the forest floor. Finally, when the stranger and the Princess reached the top of the rock wall, they turned and sprinted in the opposite direction of the earthbenders. 

 

After about ten minutes of running, the Princess slowed to a stop. “Wait,” she told her rescuer. 

 

The man turned towards her. She couldn’t see his face under his hood, but he lit a small flame in his hand to illuminate the area. 

 

“Why did you save me?” she asked. 

 

The man shrugged. “The New Earth Order wants to invade all the other nations. I figured that any enemy of theirs is one worth saving.”

 

The Princess narrowed her eyes at the man. “Who are you?”

 

Though she could not see his face, the man seemed to be studying her. 

 

“Someone who just wants peace,” he said after a moment. 

 

The Princess nodded slowly. “Then we both want the same thing,” she said. She studied her rescuer’s form, cloaked in black. “Who are you? Show me your face,” she asked. 

 

The man hesitated, before pulling back his hood, revealing a handsome face marred on one side by a scar. He had golden eyes and dark hair. He looked proud, noble. He was beautiful.

 

Somewhere in the back of the Princess’ mind, she wondered if he was single. 

 

“You’re a firebender,” she said, trying to pull herself together. Between her near-death experience, the eclipse, and her mysterious, handsome saviour, her night was turning out to be too much to handle.

 

The stranger raised his eyebrows. “Excellent observation.”

 

She frowned at him. “I’m obviously not Fire Nation or Great Earth Kingdom. Why bother helping me?”

 

The man sighed. “There’s going to be a war sooner or later,” he said bluntly. “I, for one, would prefer if that didn’t happen. The world has gone through enough as it is. The Great Earth Kingdom holding a member of the Water Kingdom hostage would be enough to start a war, and my nation would get dragged into it. War is the last thing anybody needs.”

 

The Princess nodded, a little surprised at the man’s honesty. “Thank you,” she said formally, finally remembering some of her royal manors. 

 

The man smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re welcome.” He looked around at the forest, and seemed to decide that their conversation was over. “I need to go,” he said. “If anyone asks, I was never here.”

 

“Yes, of course,” the Princess replied. She took in the man’s face one last time before he turned away, then watched as he began to walk away. 

 

She sighed. This man had saved her life, without a second thought. And he didn’t even know who she was! She frowned at the thought. 

 

_ He saved my life, but I know nothing about him. WE know nothing about each other. Shit.  _

 

“Hey, wait!” She called out to him. He stopped walking and turned to face her, curious. 

 

“What’s your name?” She asked. 

 

The man seemed to consider for a moment whether or not he should tell her, before giving her a smirk. “Zuko. And yours?”

 

She smiled at him. “Katara.” 

 

“Goodbye, Katara,” he said, and turned to disappear into the woods. 

  
_ Zuko. My firebending rescuer,  _ she thought to herself. She wondered if she’d ever meet the mysterious firebender again, and headed into the forest herself to find her way home. 


End file.
